Noise guidelines could stop wind farm approval

Jun 12 2009 by Ben Guy, The Journal

“With the discouragement of wind farm developments in remoter areas and with many of the ‘low impact’ sites now consented or constructed, wind farms are inevitably going to be brought closer to residential receptors. The direct result of this is that the noise limits set in ETSU-R-97 (a Government report on acceptable noise levels) will become more relevant.’’

It adds: “Using this new methodology may mean that a number of projects, which have previously been assessed as acceptable, may now fail or struggle to meet the ETSU-R-97 limits.

“We also understand that the assumptions in relation to ground absorption in particular are based on very limited data from operating wind farms.

“This lack of data has led to uncertainty as to which absorption level to apply in the assessment. If the industry is concerned about the changes proposed by the independent consultants who sat on the Noise Working Group, the only answer is for the industry to fund further assessment.

“We would therefore advise any developer ... trying to get their application consented, to urgently review their noise assessment in light of this statement.”